I always imagined living alone would mean that my apartment would stay tidy and everything would be put away after it was used. Having a clean home has always brought me joy and while it takes time, I really do enjoy deep cleaning my apartment. However, recently I had a pile of clean clothes that had to be put away and it was growing. My kitchen needed a deep clean and the dishwasher was where I went to look for a clean spoon instead of putting everything away. It was rough for weeks and I just didn’t have the energy to clean up after work. After a few days of a messy home, it became too much to do in one night. Finally, during the weekend, I set my phone timer for 30 minutes and I got to work on each room. Vowing to never let my apartment get this messy again, I brainstormed some ways to keep me on track.

My Coat Closet

I am one of those lucky people who have a coat closet in their apartment. Lately, I have been making an effort to immediately put my jacket and shoes away when I get home. It’s an extra step that can make a big difference!

The Nightly 5 Minute Tidy

Wipe down the counters, put things away and tidy up the living spaces you use often to keep on top of it. I’ll spend 5 minutes before bed tidying up before getting into bed at night. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but a few minutes of clean up each night helps it from getting overwhelming.

Keep Clothes off the Floor

The goal is to not have a pile of clothes waiting to be put away but there are some days I just don’t get to it. Instead, I just make sure dirty clothes go in the hamper and I have a bench in my closet that has all of my clothes that need to be put away.

Keep Cleaning Supplies in Your Bathroom and Kitchen

Whenever I make a mess or have some time to do some cleaning, I like having the cleaning supplies that I need nearby. There is spray and Clorox wipes under my sink so it takes two seconds to clean off a counter. Something that helps me tremendously is by keeping my counters as clutter free as possible!

Create a Routine

A while ago, I talked on the blog about how I spend my days off and a big part of that is to block out some time and clean my apartment. Laundry gets started first thing in the morning and then I will spend an hour going around to clean up after a busy week. Somehow cups accumulate all over my apartment, so I will do a walk through and collect trash and put cups in my dishwasher. To keep my self entertained, I will watch tv while I clean and on commercial breaks I will swiffer or vacuum. By doing a deep clean once a week, my apartment never gets that bad during the week because everything is really clean on Monday.

Make Sure Everything Has A Home

This was the first thing I did when I moved into my apartment. In my closet bathroom, I have baskets for all of my different products by category. My kitchen is set up so that everything has a home. Even my junk drawer is organized! Nothing is out of place in my living room because I keep the room very minimalist. There is lots of storage and baskets are great at keeping everything looking neat. Cleaning up is so easy when everything has a home because it requires zero thought. Moving made me simplify everything I had and realize that I don’t need to keep all of my shoes or have an overcrowded desk with supplies. It’s hard to part with anything you may need in the future but I found it is much easier to toss it now and rebuy it when you actually need it.

Get Creative with Storage

There are some things that we may not be using right now, but will need to use again in a few months like summer clothes, accessories and makeup, etc. I’ve been using this trunk to store all of my off season clothes and it fits perfectly on the floor of my closet. My rule is that if it doesn’t fit, I need to reevaluate if I really need it. In my coat closet, I have one large canvas bag that has all of my other canvas bags in it so they don’t take up a lot of room. All of my purses are in a basket on a shelf in my closet so I know where all of them are in case I need to swap out my bag. My vanity is great at keeping all of my makeup and hair accessories in one place.